Veterens' Day
by randomgirldadada
Summary: Captain America goes to speak to a group of kids on Veterens' Day. Oneshot


A/N:Just a oneshot inspired by a speaker that came to my school on Tuesday for our Veteran's day celebration. I just thought "Hey! What if Capitan America went and spoke to a group of kids on Veteran's day?" And boom! This oneshot was born! Please enjoy! Man that's a lot of exclaimation points!

He could handle this. It may be his toughest challenge yet but he could handle it. Right?  
"Capitan?"  
He jumped, laughing nervously at the young teacher who had come to collect him.  
"Yes?"  
"We're ready for you."  
"Thank you ma'am."  
She smiled before ducking back behind the red curtain. He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. He could do this, sure this crowd was sure to be harsh but he could take it. Hopefully. He waited until he heard the young teacher announce his name before slipping through the curtain. Applause erupting around him, banging against his eardrums like bullets off his sheild. He smiled selfconciously, waving at the group of young people as they continued their uproar. Slowly they began to die down until he could actually hear his own thoughts once more.  
"Hi," he began sheepishly, some random student let out a loud,"Whoo!" Causing everyone to laugh. Steve chuckled, some of his nerves disappearing.  
"I'm Steve Rogers or Capitan America as you probably know me better as. I was 18 when I joined the military. I was scrawny and sick and was rejected time and time again. Until a scientist by the name of Abraham Erskine allowed me to enlist under the Scientific Strategic Reserve which was part of the super soldier experiment. After I was injected with the super serum I was ready for the army but the army didn't seem ready for me so I was used as a spokesman for the war," that thought always made him laugh.  
"But I did eventually get to fight in World War II and help my country stay safe from harm which I'm eternally grateful I had the opportunity to do." He completed his speech, allowing the children's applause to wash over him.  
"Are there any questions for Mr. Rogers?" The young teacher asked the crowd as they began to die down. Steve watched as the kids all looked at each other tentatively, no hands raised. His smile faultered a bit. It only takes 1 brave soldier to win a war. Come on.n he thought, bright blue eyes searching the crowd once more. Slowly one hand rose above the heads of other children. Steve grinned, Good job soldier.  
"Yes you." Steve called out to the boy, no need to point him out since he was the only one with a raised hand.  
"Do you like waffles?"  
A strange question but at least he had the guts to ask it.  
Steve chuckled,"Yes, I like waffles." As soon as those words left his mouth another hand shot up. Steve grinned, pointing out the dark haired girl.  
"Do you like pancakes?"  
What was these kids obsession with breakfast foods?  
"Yeah, I like pancakes." Another hand goes up.  
"Do you like french toast?"  
Okay, not he was getting confused. "Um, yeah I like french toast."  
"Do do di do can't wait to get a mouthful!"  
Steve blinked owlishly at the laughing students, until he remembered a video Tony had showed him a few months ago of a dancing waffle singing that annoying song. Just to bug him Tony decided to sing it everytime he entered a room and he wired his phone so that it played every hour. He fixed after the Captain chucked it at his head though.  
"Any more questions?" Steve asked,trying to move the focus point away from breakfast items. A few hands rose this time, now that the ice had been broken. He called a young girl.  
"Do you like vegetables?"  
Well that was better than asking if he liked doughnuts or something.  
"Yeah, pretty much, except for brocoli. Hate the stuff." He made a sour face, causing the kids to laugh. He called on a boy this time to keep his trend.  
"How old are you?"  
"88." He said, nodding as there was an eruption of hushed whispers. He smiled inwardly, man he was nver going to get used to saying that.  
He called on a girl who looked to be in highschool.  
She grinned mischeviously at him.  
"Are you single?"  
Steve felt heat rush into his cheeks as they group of kids laughed. He laughed nervously, awkwardly answering her question.  
"Uh, yes."  
Another had shot up. Please not another relationship question, he pleaded mentally.  
"My grandfather served in WWII, did you know him? His name was Adam Hart."  
Steve thought back on his days in the war, trying to paste a face to that name. Finally he shook his head.  
"No, I'm soory. I'm sure he was a great soldier."  
"What's your grandfather's name?"  
"Martin Rogers."  
"Are you my grandpa?" A young boy around 5 years old with big blue eyes asked. Steve chuckled, patting the boy on his light blond haired head.  
"I don't think so little soldier. I've never had kids."  
The little boy raised his hand again and Steve couldn't resist calling on him again.  
"Where do babies come from?" He should have resisted.  
"Next question?" He called on a little girl.  
"Do you have X-ray vision?"  
"No but that would be very neat."  
He called on an older, somber looking boy.  
"Do you like killing people?" He asked, pulling his skull cap a little farther over his pitch black hair. Steve sighed, staring at the crowd of expectant faces.  
"I don't like hurting people but I don't like it when others pick on the defenseless even more." He answered with a serious expression. A young girl raised her hand.  
"What do you think of the Human Torch?"*  
"Truthfully I've never met him but he seems like a nice enough fellow." He answered, glad to be off such a gloomy topic.  
"How does it feel to be frozen?"  
"I didn't actually feel it. It was kind of like drifting off to sleep."  
"Did you have a nice rest?"  
He couldn't exactly call it nice, leaving all the people he loved behind in the past.  
He smiled,"it was so nice that I didn't have to sleep for weeks after I woke up." More like the nightmares kept sleep just a far away fantasy.  
"Do you like America? Why or why not?" He grinned, he like this question.  
"No I don't like America," a collective gasp sounded around the room. He grinned even wider,"I love America. I love that here every man, woman, and child is equal. I love that here it doesn't matter what you look like or where you come from and you're accepted, even appreciated for your differences and for what makes you unique. I love that the little guy can be the hero and save the day. I love everything that America stands for ans everything it stands to become."  
The kids were silent for a moment as they took in his speech. Slowly the raised hands returned to the places high above their heads.  
"Who's your favorite superhero?"  
That's not one he was expecting. Who was his favorite superhero? He smiled as her image popped into his mind.  
"My mom." A collective 'aaw' was heard.  
"Did you have to practice a lot to control your shield?"  
"Yes. The shiled os a great reponsibility and I'm glad that I am able to use it to help people but it was really hard to use at first. There were a lot of brave trees that lost their lives the first couple weeks I had the shild but I was definantely worth it. The sheild is one of my biggest assets."  
"How many kids do you want to have?"  
"4. I was an only child and I always dreamed of having a big family."  
"Are you a natural blond?"  
"Yes." He laughed.  
"Do you prefer math or english?"  
"When I was in school I wasn't the best student, which is probably why I enlisted in the military right after highschool, but I have found that words come easier to me than numbers do. I make a lot of speeches so I think that helps too. So english I suppose."  
"Who do you work with the best in the Avengers?"  
He thought for a second,"Well that's a tough one because I think that we all work well together. Iron Man is a great strategist, the Hulk is unbearibly strong and Dr. Banner is a genuis scientist, Thor's a god. Enough said. Black Widow can get out of a bad situation better than anyone I've ever met and Hawkeye can shoot a fly deadcenter in the wings from twenty feet away. With a toothpick." The kids laughed but they hadn't seen when Tony complained about the fly so he bet anyone in the tower who could kill the fly before he could he'd pay 200 dollars. After creating a gaping hole in the tower wall the fly encountered Clint in the kitchen, who had just finished eating lunch, and boom! Dead fly nailed to the wall with a toothpick sticking out of its body. Tony had just gaped as Clint walked past him, patting his shoulder and stating,'I only accept cash.'  
"But if I really had to choose then I'd say Black Widow. We do a lot of ground work together so I think we've worked out a pretty good dynamic."  
"Do you have a crush on Black Widow?"  
Steve blushed again, rubbing his neck sheepishly and coughing from the lack of air in his lungs.  
"Pass."  
"When you get mad do you feel like throwing your shield at people?"  
He laughed,"I have thought about it but I like to think that I have more self control than to go around hitting people I'm mad at."  
"How did it feel being frozen alive?"  
He thought back on it. The rush of freezing water, how it slowly began to numb his skin and how he eventually fell into a deep slumber.  
"I didn't really feel it, like I said before I just drifted off to sleep eventually."  
"Did you survive?"  
He chuckled at the question,"Yes, yes I did."  
There were more hands raised but before Steve could call on anyone else the young teacher stepped forward with her hands clasped together.  
"Alright it's about time for Mr. Rogers to say goodbye kids." Steve looked all of the faces of the disappointed kids, the sight pulling at his heart strings.  
"I think we have enough time for one more question ma'am." He stated with his all american boy grin.  
"Right?" The crowd erupted into applause. The young teacher looked from him to the kids, pushing up her glasses.  
"Okay 1 more question." A multitude of hands shot up and he searched the crowd. He smiled as he passed over eager faces but he picked none of them. He picked a young girl with her hand raised tentatively. She blinked her dark brown eyes behind her glasses owlishly, pointing at her herself and running a hand through her dirty blond hair nervously. Steve nodded encouragedly, smiling warmly at her. She returned it with one of her own.  
"Is there anything you regret?"  
Steve blinked, as if stunned by her question. Is there anything he regretted? Was that a joke? Of course there was. He regretted not being able to land that plane. He regretted not being able to make his date. He regretted not being able to save Bucky. He regretted every mistake and wrong choice ever made but he was also grateful. He grateful that he had gotten frozen. Grateful that he could help people in this time and that he had the Avengers to help him do it. And he's grateful that he has the chance to do things like this. The room exploded into applause, roars, whoops, and hollers. Steve blinked, he said all of that outloud didn't he?  
"Thank you for coming Mr. Rogers." The young teacher thanked him with a handshake. He muttered a small reply, walking out behind the velvet curtains and out the bak entrance. He leaned aginst the brick wall of the school, sliding down until ha sat on the ground. He buried his head in his hands and sighed.  
"Hey Cap?"  
He looked up, taking in the scene of his team surronding him.  
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.  
"We came to watch you speak." Natasha supplied, watching him with worried blue eyes.  
Tony smirked,"Yeah, I never miss the chance to see a Capitan America speech. Though it kinda depressing at the end there, but nice save."  
"Thanks." Tony frowned at his short answer and walked over to him. He kicked him.  
"What the heck Tony?!" He demanded, attempting to block the other man's blows.  
"Get up." He demanded.  
"What?"  
"Get up."  
"Why?" He asked, sucessfully restraining his leg.  
Tony grinned,"We're taking you out old man. I know you can't get drunk, you poor soul, but I expect you to eat until you vomit."  
"Wait, what?" He asked, confused.  
"It's Vetern's day Cap." Bruce reminded.  
"What better way to celebrate than to take our resident vetern out. On Tony of course." Clint stated with his signature smirk.  
"We are going to drink and feast as we tell tales of our Captain's triumphs in war!" Thor agreed, grinning broadly.  
Steve watched all of them with wide eyes. Natasha held out her hand.  
"Come on Steve."  
He stared at her hand, his eyes connecting with hers and a smile curling onto his lips. He did regret somethings but he was grateful for a lot more. He took her hand.

A/N:My first oneshot complete. I'm so proud. It just goes to show you inspiration can come from anywhere.  
* This is just a joke because Johnny Storm and Steve Rogers are both played by Chris Evans so they would be pretty shocked to find out they have the same face.  
Thanks to my friends for coming up with these questions, except for that last one it was all me(literally, the girl who asked the question looks a lot like me). So leave me a review telling me a question that you would ask Captain America or any Avenger if you could. It may just inspire another oneshot.


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